A RARE LACQUERED KOGO DEPICTING ONO NO KOMACHI, EDO PERIOD

The Kogo (incense box) is decorated on the lid with matt gold and silver takamaki-e depicting the beautiful poet Ono no Komachi (c. 825 – 900), one of the Rokkasen (the sixth best poets of the early Heian period). She is wearing courtly robes and is writing a poem, her facial expression serene and deeply focused. The entire surface of the kogo is covered in dark-red lacquer sprinkled with nashiji – Interestingly there is also a thin inlaid layer of copper under the poetess, as spots of green oxidation are visible. Old Japanese label on the base.